English Literature

Course summary

A-level English Literature is a very good passport to several different occupations, including journalism, law, managerial positions, advertising and media, performing arts and teaching, as well as to Higher and Further Education. In studying A Level English Literature, you will explore the psychology of characters, the motives of writers and the political, social and historical contexts in which texts were written and read. You will discover how writers succeed in shaping the responses and opinions of others. How they draw you into their world. How they make you laugh, cry or empathise. You will examine how writers from other countries and cultures write differently. The study of English Literature trains the brain and frees the imagination; it is about life and living and just where you fit into the world around you. The course offers you the chance to study a rich variety of literature from many different periods. The texts are stimulating and interesting and there are several opportunities for you to choose your texts, develop your interests and (at A Level) even try your hand at some creative writing of your own. Texts currently studied include; A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen Hamlet/ Twelfth Night- Shakespeare Selected Poems – Christina Rossetti/Samuel Taylor Coleridge Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury The Children of Men – P.D James Selected poems – Wilfred Owen Agamemnon – Steven Berkoff Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie